Lost In The Frost
by CureWhite3616
Summary: What could be worse than losing a twelve-year old boy and getting lost in a huge, foreign city with just your friends? Wait a minute, where did Pollun and Lulun go?
1. Chapter 1 The Exciting Accident

**Hey guys :D **

**I'm back and raring to go…this story takes place after the series ends in Max Heart, just letting you know. This should be longer and better, so-**

**Mepple: That's what she said…**

**Curewhite3616: Stop being a pervert!**

**Pollun: *Jumps around* Yay! That's what she said – popo! That's what she said – popo!**

**Curewhite3616: *facepalm* *le sigh* Just roll out the first chapter, please.**

Chapter One

Nagisa was having an excellent morning- er, afternoon, just as she had woken up. Ryota wasn't there to wake her up at the crack of dawn, since he had his last badminton tournament, and her parents were gone to book their "romantic get-away" as they called it, for their twentieth anniversary. Nagisa just wished they hadn't of thrown in the word "romantic", because she thought that that was definitely way too much information for her.

The lazy teenager stood up from her bed in her pink pajamas, stretching her arms high above her bedhead, yawning louder than ever. "I'm going to do nothing today!" She grinned. Normally she didn't get a day off, but with winter vacation and being home alone, she could do whatever she pleased.

Nagisa watched the snowfall outside, since it had been pouring fat snowflakes all night; she made some hot dogs and watched T.V.; she checked to see if Mepple was awake, but he was still sleeping soundly by 4:00. _What a lazy bugger! _She laughed at the very British term she had just used.

After a couple of hours though, Nagisa lost the excitement of being alone. She was too used to the presence of her lacrosse team, or Honoka and Hikari. She decided to call them up, so Honoka and Nagisa would meet Hikari halfway, and then they would walk back to Nagisa's apartment.

The fifteen year old smiled to herself as she clipped Mepple onto her pants, threw on a coat, and put on a hat and mittens. She wasn't in this good of a mood in a long time.

XXXXX

Rie and Takeshi Misumi waited anxiously in the waiting room at the travel agency. Being bored out of his mind, Takeshi looked at his surroundings. He saw several posters that boldly declared: "**ASK US ABOUT OUR MAJOR FAMILY PACKAGE! TAKE UP TO FOUR PEOPLE IN THE SAME HOTEL SUITE FOR JUST 7500 YEN A NIGHT!**" He drummed his fingers along the table as Rie read a magazine.

After what felt like an eternity, the Misumi couple was called up to the office to discuss their trip to New York in America. Their travel agent was new to Japan, so being from Canada her Japanese wasn't spectacular. The majority of what the couple told her had to be repeated multiple times with hand movements involved. After about half an hour their travel agent understood what hotel they were staying at, what airline they were using, and how long they were going to be there for.

Their travel agent, "Patricia", typed on her computer. "Are you a family?"

It took the Misumi's a second, but then they understood what she was saying. "Yes, we're relatives." Rie said, shifting in her chair. She was uncomfortable speaking to foreigners that could barely understand her.

"How many?"

Takeshi held up what looked like the peace sign. "Two."

"Okey-dokey." The young girl said adorably while typing. "Your vacation is planned."

"Thank you." Rie said, bowing as she got up from her chair. They left to go home in the frosty weather.

XXXXX

Nagisa felt the snowflakes stick to her cheeks and the sudden change in temperature biting at her skin. She was standing at Honoka's and her meeting spot, the intersection outside the train station, waiting for one of her best friends. She pulled her red scarf to her nose, wondering why she didn't do so in the first place.

When she saw Honoka carefully running towards her on the icy sidewalk, she pulled her scarf back down and remembered her reason; she wouldn't be able to talk, and besides, half of her face was beginning to sweat so it actually felt good when Jack Frost's icy breath hit it. The blonde waved to her best friend in the gray coat and white scarf that suited her black hair so well. "Honoka!"

"Nagisa!" Honoka sat beside her best friend against the outside walls of the train station, lightly shivering. "I hope Hikari comes soon, I'm freezing!"

"Same here." Nagisa said, looking up to the sky. The sun and clouds were all bleached white by the heavy snowfall and their steamy breath. "Look Honoka, I'm a dragon!" She breathed heavily, making white ringlets come out from her mouth and rise.

Honoka raised her finger in the air and smiled. "Actually, that's not the case. Your breath has moisture, a water vapor in it. When you breathe out into very cold outdoor air, the moisture-laden atmosphere from your lungs becomes chilled to the point where the water condenses into a fog. This is known as condensation." She leaned her head back to the wall. "Think about when you breathe hot breath on a window to write on it with your finger, or when the mirror in your bathroom gets foggy and moist after a shower. Those examples are also a cause of condensation."

Nagisa's mouth scrunched up. "You could have just laughed at my joke, silly." She found herself laughing moments later however, wondering how they had managed to stay friends after Pretty Cure while being so different. _Opposites really do attract, I guess._

The silence after that was broken when Hikari ran over to them. Her sunshine blonde braid was frizzing up from the humidity in the air and the snowflakes soaking it. She was wearing a winter coat that was oversized for the second year in middle school, and she was holding a tray of seven steaming Styrofoam cups. She was out of breath. "Sorry I'm late guys." She said, falling to her knees but keeping the drinks safe from spilling. "The frying pan broke at the café so we had to fry the tepanyaki manually over a fire." She rubbed the back of her neck. "That was some tough stuff. Anyways, I brought hot chocolates for us and the Field of Light creatures for when we get back to Nagisa's apartment."

"Ya-ta!" Nagisa yelled out in joy along with a fist pump in the air, now realizing what that warm, chocolate aroma was. "Akane-san and Hikari's hot chocolates are the best!"

"Akane-san taught me how." Hikari nodded with a smile. "Nowadays people use chocolate powder with hot milk or water, but at the café we boil real chocolate, milk, and other ingredients over a stove. That's how they traditionally made them."

"Yum!" Nagisa got up. "Let's hurry home so we can drink them hot!"

Honoka walked behind her, giggling. "Nagisa, they should be perfect by the time we get to your apartment, since they seem to be about nine-thousand degrees when you first get them."

"As Akane-san always says;" Hikari said, joining the two in the middle of the sidewalk. "'There's a reason we call it HOT chocolate!'"

The three girls ignored the cold spell as they joked around on their way to Nagisa's apartment. Honoka didn't care about the cold, since she associated the smell of falling snow with seeing her parents at Christmas time. Nagisa tried to forget about the cold because of her cheerful mood. Hikari was so cold that the poor young girl was shivering, but she tried to hide it from her older friends. _If I could take fighting as Shiny Luminous, I can _definitely _take this!_

A blast of pleasant warmth came the young girls' way as they walked in Nagisa's apartment building. Hikari had only been there a couple of times, since normally the girls spent time together at Honoka's or the café, so she still had to follow her older friends up the elevator six stories and down the hallways to apartment 6G.

As soon as Nagisa unlocked and opened her door, they could smell pine needles from their real Christmas tree, and a warm smell of gingerbread men made yesterday, the warm smells tickling their red and frost-bitten noses.

"Well, let's get settled in the living room." Nagisa said, throwing her blue winter hat, pink mittens and red scarf in a soggy and melting pile in a corner near the front door. Her fingers tingled as it got accustomed to the sudden change in temperature, once again.

"I'll liven up these hot chocolates." Hikari said, pulling out different saucers from her shoulder bag she brought with her. "I didn't have the chance to at the café because I felt you guys were waiting too long for me. Nagisa, can I use your stove?"

"Go ahead." The girl said, putting her arms behind her back on the sofa. Suddenly, all of the lights turned out.

"Great, a power outage." Nagisa scratched her head. "Ugh, it's the one thing I hate about snow storms!"

When all of the lights turned out, that was when Honoka and Hikari truly noticed how beautiful Nagisa's Christmas tree was. The needles were thick and full, with such a dark shade of green. The shiny white tinsel reflected off the bright multi-colored lights all over it, and so did the bright, big ornament balls. The only ornament that wasn't a classic one was the one where you were able to put in your own picture. The picture Rie had put inside was one that Nagisa and Ryota have both been meaning to sneak out of the building; a picture of six month old Ryota and three and a half year old Nagisa taking a bath together. Ryota had a tiny stub of brown hair along with a goofy smile he was self-conscious of to this day. Nagisa had all of her sandy-blonde hair, with tiny pigtails all over her head.

To top it off, the tree had a classic, bright gold star at the top of it. After a minute of gazing at the beautiful Christmas decoration in the corner of Nagisa's living room, Honoka came to realize something. "Hold on! How are the Christmas lights still on if the power went out?"

"We have solar powered tree lights that we keep outside on sunny days all year 'round." Nagisa stretched, the colorful lights of the tree illuminating her body and making her amber eyes even more beautiful. "Pretty cool, don't 'cha think?"

"Do you have a solar powered oven?" Hikari asked.

Honoka giggled, as Nagisa replied with: "No, but you can use the fire pit over there if you want."

"Okay, thank you very much." Hikari grabbed a barbeque lighter and began to work. Even though Hikari had enough practice to know exactly what she was doing with this, Honoka kept a very close eye on her as she lit the stones in the pit. Sometimes, Honoka considered herself more of a protective mother to Hikari than a friend, even though they were only two years apart.

Hikari got Lulun and Pollun, who were just so packed with energy and excitement, to shake up the whipping cream as she warmed and eventually melted the real fudge and caramel over the fire. Once the cream was whipped enough, she put a lid on that saucer that was very similar to a regular whipped cream can, only it was steel, and sprayed a bunch of fresh whipped cream on each hot chocolate. Then, she topped the whipped cream with a couple of fresh, mini marshmallows, and drizzled it with hot fudge and caramel, and finally, shaved chocolate from Hikari herself.

Nagisa got different and sweet flavors bursting in her mouth, warming her up as she swallowed. "Leave it to Hikari to leave the ingredients fresh and delicious!"

Hikari lightly blushed as they kept going, since she wasn't used to being bathed in compliments.

Nagisa poked Mepple and Mipple's heartful communes up from a long nap. "Wake up guys, you have hot chocolate."

Everybody but Honoka was chatting amongst themselves. Yukishiro-san just held her steaming cup which its contents she personally thought were too sweet for her, and looked out the window. _The storm is calming down now. They're just fat snowflakes dancing to the ground, how pretty. _She turned back to her friends. "Guys?" She said quietly.

Nagisa was laughing deeply about something, swinging her head back. She had a high from the sugar rush and happiness.

"Wouldn't it be cool if we were all neighbours?" The black-haired asked, once again in a light tone.

"Eh?" Nagisa also responded quietly, her huge smile disappearing.

"You know." Honoka said. "If we all lived beside each other."

"Yeah, I've thought about that too." Nagisa looked at her Christmas tree. "Maybe one day."

The sound of the front door opening caught the girls' attention.

"…It's not like it's eating up into our savings, honey." They could hear Rie say.

"I know." Takeshi came back with. Nagisa could tell by the tone of his voice that he was frustrated. "But we had saved up just enough for our anniversary trip AND the family vacation next year."

Rie tugged at her husband's arm. "This is an opportunity for our whole family to go, AND some of Nagisa's friends."

"Yeah. This was meant for just us, though, that's all."

"It'll be fun honey, I promise." Rie kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Nagisa and her friends walked to the door. "Take the whole family and Nagisa's friends to what..?" Nagisa asked.

"Oh, kids." Rie said. "I didn't realize you were there. Well, we had a travel agent who only knew the very basics of Japanese, and she misunderstood us-"

"She thought we asked for two FAMILY PACKAGES, when we just asked for two people." Takeshi finished, with his head in his hands. "So we just paid for eight people on a trip to New York and now there's no way out of it."

"We get to go to New York!" Nagisa leaped for joy. "Ya-ta! I could invite Honoka and Hikari!"

"There would still be room for two extra after that, Nagisa." Honoka smiled. "I'm sure my grandmother would love to come."

"Yeah." Hikari blushed more than she ever had before. "And so would Akane-san." She never knew why, but every time Nagisa's parents were in the room Hikari felt embarrassed and blushed easily. This was Hikari crushing on Nagisa's father. It's typical for a young girl to have a little crush on an adult man, whether it is your teacher, dentist, or coach. However, this confused Hikari since she was still having difficulty fully understanding what a crush was.

The children were so busy being overjoyed with the situation that they were oblivious of her father going to bed early. _But, this was just supposed to be for Rie and I._

**Honoka's little rant about condensation was mostly helped from this following link:**

_ . . _

**Anyways, has my writing gotten better? Please R&R =D**


	2. Chapter 2 Butterflies With Ice Cream

The sun was setting with an orange glow that evening, letting the snow banks reflect burning sunlight in the eyes of the people walking by. Hikari lightly shivered, in Akane-san's old coat. The woman had leant it to her because poor Hikari had barely any winter wear to begin with. _It's a little big, but it's nice. _Hikari tried to continue thinking these positive thoughts as the sleeves flopped past her hands, touching her knees. She was waiting for her other friends, Nao and Miu, since her break was almost over.

Soon Hikari began to lose focus on waiting for her friends and had zoned out in her own world. She noticed the thick, foot deep sheet of snow blanketing the ground and soaking her boots inside and out. She carefully listened to the soft tunes of the holidays coming from nowhere in particular. _Maybe the snow sings…_

"Hey! Kujou – san!"

The spacey blonde returned to earth as she noticed her four friends – Nagisa, Honoka, Nao and Miu, greeting her from the plowed sidewalk.

Her whole face brightened. "Hi guys!"

Her four friends walked over to the shivering blonde.

"It's hard to believe the year is ending…" Nao said, looking into the sky dreamily.

"Yeah." Hikari suddenly looked like she had remembered something. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot! Nao, Miu, Nagisa and Honoka were legendary warriors with me and we won nearly a year ago! Have you guys beaten your Dotsuko Zone yet?"

"Eh?" The two middle school students said together, as Nagisa and Honoka's eyes widened.

Hikari's expression was blank. "What? You two are great friends, you'd make a great Pretty Cure duo. Doesn't everybody have to fight as Pretty Cure one day?"

Nagisa laughed hysterically in nervousness. She began to push Hikari in the mobile café. "You better hurry, your break will end soon! Hehehehehe!" _Oh, Hikari…you're so innocent it's dangerous…_

Chapter Two

"New York, huh?" Akane-san said, as she washed dishes. They had just closed, but they were catching up on cleaning. "That sounds like fun. Maybe I'll get my business larger and we can go one day."

"We can!" Hikari said, her emerald-eyes sparkling. "Nagisa's parents were originally gonna go alone from the sixteenth to Christmas Eve, but they made a mistake of booking for eight people, so Nagisa is allowed to choose some friends to come along!"

Akane-san turned around to Hikari as she put a shiny plate away. "I actually feel really bad for Misumi-san's parents, that's a lot of money in the hole."

The blonde bounced around. "It is a bad thing for them, but they need six other people now anyways! Rie even said you and I could tag along! Please!"

Akane-san held her face in her hands. She wanted to do this for Hikari, especially since she never asked for anything while most thirteen-year old girls whined about everything. "What about the business? We can't just leave the store behind for over a week."

"This will be our big chance!" Hikari smiled. "Bringing our business to New York could make our popularity boom!"

Akane-san sighed deeply. "The sixteenth, huh?" She glanced at her calendar, noticing that that day was the fourteenth. "Oh, alright then."

"Thank you so much, Akane-san!" Hikari leaped for joy, running home much faster than her "cousin."

"New York – popo! New York – popo!"

"Gonna go on a plane – lulu! Gonna go on a plane – lulu!"

XXXXX

For Honoka, convincing her Grandmother to go wasn't as difficult as Hikari, but there were a few things.

"New York?" Grandmother put her wrinkly hand on her chin thoughtfully. "But who will feed Chutaro while we're gone?"

"Why don't we just bring him?" Chutaro seemed to bark in agreement with his teenage owner.

The elderly lady gasped softly. "But, your parents are coming here for Christmas!"

"Relax, we'll be back by Christmas Eve, I promise."

"Well…all right then."

Because everybody was allowed to go, Honoka, Grandmother, Hikari, and Akane-san spent the night at Nagisa's apartment on December fifteenth. Takeshi was cranky about the whole situation, but Rie tried to be optimistic about the whole situation despite how crowded the apartment became. She had set up slices of tako, crackers, cheese and whatnot for the evening. Everyone was in the living room, laughing up some excitement. Rie met up with Takeshi in the front hall, where he was hiding.

Rie smiled brightly, holding a plate. "Sweetheart, would you like some tako?"

Takeshi turned away, his back to her. "No thanks." He said this as emotional as a robot would.

Rie's face fell. "But, you love dried octopus…"

"I'm not that hungry right now."

"Come on, it'll still be fun." Rie smiled. "We'll just send off the kids with Akane-san and Honoka's grandmother, so we'll have some time alone."

"**Some **time alone?" He turned to her slightly, the shadows of the night creeping in the windows and covering half of his face. "We already get **some **time alone at home. The whole point of this trip was so we would get **all **time alone!" Rie tried to kiss him with one of her sweetest kisses, Takeshi always referred to them as her "sugar kisses", since they usually managed to cheer him up. However, tonight was not one of those nights. "I'm going to bed." He said coldly, pulling away from his lover.

_Takeshi…_

XXXXX

Akane-san and grandmother were sleeping in the living room, while Nagisa and her friends were sleeping in her bedroom. Nagisa was on her bed, and Honoka and Hikari were curled up in sleeping bags on the floor. Their minds were too flooded with excitement to put sleep in their restless bodies.

Nagisa put her hands behind her neck. "This is so exciting! I've never been on a plane before!"

Honoka sat up. "I have before many times, ever since I was a little girl." She smiled brightly, her ocean blue eyes reflecting the falling snowflakes outside of Nagisa's window. "But every time excites me just as much!"

Hikari blinked with a blank expression on her face. "A…plane?"

"Yes, an airplane." Nagisa said. "It's like a bus that flies high in the air."

Mepple turned into his Field of Light form. "Wow! Do you think that we would be able to see the Field of Light up there?"

"It doesn't go that high." Nagisa said, with a giggle.

"So it's…" Hikari blinked once again. "Magic?"

Honoka laughed. "No, not at all, the way an airplane works is much more fascinating than that." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Airplane wings are curved on the top, which make air move faster over the top of the wing. It moves slower underneath the wing. The slow air pushes up from below while the faster air pushes down from the top. This forces the wing to lift up into the air."

Pollun jumped around. "I liked Hikari's answer better- popo!" He then flailed his arms. "Yay! I've never gotten to fly around in the Field of Rainbows before – popo!"

Nagisa smiled, and then sat up to look at her dear friends. "Hey, do you remember what Honoka said the other day about us being neighbours?" The teenagers nodded in agreement. "Well, for a little while we'll be in the same hotel room. That's kind of like being neighbours."

"Yeah." Hikari lay down again, her hair being wavy from being in a braid all day. "Honoka says it's exciting, but I'm kind of nervous about it."

"So was I, with my first time." Honoka smiled. "Then when you get on the plane you realize just how much fun it is!"

"But Nagisa isn't nervous about it." Hikari said. "She's never been on a plane before either."

"Are you kidding me?" Nagisa turned over on her side. "I'm extremely nervous about it!"

"Then-" Hikari was very confused. "why are you acting normal?"

"I learned this from many years of lacrosse tournaments." She gazed at the balcony, remembering how many sleepless nights she spent on there before game day. "No matter how many I play, I always get right nervous before the game begins. But then I started **acting **like I was confident and happy, and that reflected on how I actually felt." She smiled directly at her younger friend. "Besides, who wants a terrified captain?"

Hikari flipped on her back, staring at the ceiling. "Acting…like it…?"

XXXXX

Hikari twiddled with her thumbs, waiting beside her friends in the airport chairs. _Mrs. Misumi says that we have to do a security check on our luggage, and send in our luggage, and get a security check on us, and go through all of these things. Why do we have to do these things? Why do we have to do so many things just to fly from one place to another? I'm so confused…_

It was just her and the former Pretty Cure duo, since Akane-san was at a boating place to send her Tako Café truck to New York and would be right back, and Grandmother and the Misumi couple were getting ice cream with Ryota. Hikari ignored Nagisa and Honoka's excitable conversations as she just sat and twiddled her thumbs.

Lulun poked out from her pocket pouch. "Hikari? Are you okay – lulu?"

Hikari lightly smiled, trying to use Nagisa's method. "I'm fine Lulun. Thanks for asking."

Suddenly, the four people they were waiting for-Grandmother, Ryota, Rie and Takeshi- walked over to them in their row of chairs. Ryota was holding Rie's hand, despite the fact that he was twelve years old, and Takeshi was holding a vanilla ice cream cone. Grandmother was holding two chocolate ones, which she gave to Nagisa and Honoka.

"Kujou-san."

Hikari suddenly stopped spacing out at the sound of her name. She saw the vanilla ice cream cone in front of her face, but she was more interested in the person holding it.

"Nagisa said that you prefer vanilla." Takeshi chuckled. "You and me are in the same boat, kid."

Hikari's cheeks turned as red as Nagisa's when she sees Fuji-pi. "You-you didn't have to do that." She bowed. "Th-thank you very much."

"No need to be so formal." Takeshi handed her the ice cream. "You must be nervous for your first flight."

"I-I'm fine."

XXXXX

'FLYING – POPO!"

"FLYING – LULU!"

The children were sitting on different parts of the plane then the adults, so each Field of Light creature was on their laps, Pollun on Hikari's head and Lulun perched on her lap. They were clueless to the fact that in as little as a few hours, visions of sugar plums would not dance in their heads, but horror would.

**Sorry this was short, and it will get interesting in the next chapter R&R please! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3 One Star Is Left

**CureWhite3616: Sorry guys, been busy again-**

**Mepple: STOP MAKING EXCUSES! **

**CureWhite3616: You're right =3= Frankly, I've been too busy being lazy this summer. I know exactly what's going to happen in this story, I've just haven't felt those creative juices…**

**Mipple: And the only way to cure that is more writing!**

**CureWhite3616: Right!**

**Pollun: Yeah! Write! Write!**

**CureWhite3616: Not that kind of "right". Er, right? Well, I guess "write" could apply. So I'll use write, right?**

**Lulun: WRITE!**

Chapter 3

Rie Misumi was the first to open their hotel room's door. "Oh, how lovely!" She turned to Takeshi with a big smile. "Isn't this lovely, dear?"

Takeshi had his arms crossed. "It's designed for two people. It's going to get crowded." The man mumbled, scowling. He was still in a bad mood about the whole situation.

Rie sighed. She figured nothing would get him out of his sour mood, not even the atmosphere of the holidays. "Well kids, get your luggage settled in, and we'll decide what we'll do from there."

"I call this bed!" Ryota exclaimed, throwing himself on the ultra king sized bed. His small body sunk into the memory foam so much that you could barely see him.

"No way!" Nagisa threw herself on him, pulling him up and giving him one of her best Cobra Twists. "I'm the bigger one, so I need more space than you!"

"Of course you're bigger…" Ryota mumbled, with a smug grin on his face. "You're the size of an elephant…"

"Waah!" Nagisa turned to her father. "Dad, tell Ryota that I need to have the ultra king sized bed!"

"Neither of you are having it." Takeshi looked frustrated, and the big blue bags under his eyes made it clear of his exhaustion.

"What?" Ryota and Nagisa said at the same time, still in the Cobra Twist position.

"Takeshi…" Rie said. "We can at least order some cots for the children."

"No, that costs more money and the last thing I need to do is spend more money right now!" The man nearly snapped, but pulled himself together. He sighed deeply, as if sighing was actually going to make the situation better. "Akane-san and Sanae can sleep in that bed and Rie and I will sleep in this one. The children were lucky enough to come with us, they can make do with the floor."

Ryota was caught off guard by his father's random slash. Nagisa was familiar with it because of their trip to the statues without his knowledge, but Ryota had never seen it before. It was almost like another person had entered his father's body.

For the next ten minutes, things were awkwardly silent. Everyone unpacked their things, or did their business in the bathroom, or made themselves look better, but it was all done silently. Even the Field of Light creatures, despite their excitement and anxiousness to look at the place, remained silent because the tension was recognizable in their little pouches. Everybody fell asleep in exhaustion, crashing from a high, and silence.

XXXXX

Hikari's eyes suddenly opened from the sunrise hitting her face through the window. As she sat up from the very small blanket she had to work with, she realized how stiff the floor made her back feel. She felt her hair, that was normally very crinkly from sleeping with it down, but was actually fairly straight from having no pillow to roll around on. Her whole world had changed in this strange, new place, right down to the behavior of her hair.

Looking around, she hoped tremendously that at least _someone _was awake to talk to. Despite her strong desire for it, though, all she found was very still bodies that were breathing deeply. She glanced at the alarm clock beside Mr. Misumi's head, which read _**8:00 am. **__How can everyone stand sleeping in so much? _

This was when Hikari realized that Pollun and Lulun have never gotten to see this new place yet, plus she knew they would be awake at this time. Mipple and Mepple always seemed to sleep in like the others, but luckily for Hikari Pollun and Lulun have adapted to the young girl's sleeping patterns. She pulled out her small luggage that she used as a "carry on", which was what the adults called it, and pulled out Pollun and Lulun's communes.

As soon as Lulun realized that she was being moved out of the musty old bag, she got overly excited and opened her commune on her own. "We're here – lulu! We're here-lulu!" She yelled.

"Sh!" Pollun hushed her, opening up as well. "You don't wanna wake the others – popo."

Hikari smiled. "That's right. If you two can be good and quiet, I can show you outside of this very faraway place we're in."

The two nodded very quickly, anxious to see this new place that was so mysterious to them.

The thirteen year old girl let the creatures turn into their Field of Light forms, and turned them outside the window.

"This is nothing like I've ever seen before – popo!" Pollun exclaimed with a hushed tone, his eyes sparkling with Lulun's at the sight of the tall buildings, crowded people and traffic as heavy as the pollution. The thin sheet of snow blanketing the sidewalks and streets were a crisp white, but the snow banks collected had turned mushy and brown. The three were gazing out the window until they heard a voice.

"Hikari, you're awake."

The blonde girl jumped nearly a foot in her pajamas, as the creatures returned to their communes and hid in their pouches. She turned around to Honoka, sitting cross legged. "Oh, Honoka." She smiled. "It was only you."

"Yes, I finally gave up on trying to sleep on these floors that are hard as rock." She grinned. "I'm still having a good time though."

"So am I." Hikari lightly smiled through her exhaustion. "So, today is Nagisa's parents' wedding anniversary?"

Honoka shook her head. "No, their wedding anniversary is months from now. However, Takeshi proposed to Rie on Christmas Eve." The raven-haired girl let her fingers tie together as her eyes sparkled. "Isn't that just magical?"

"Um, I guess." Hikari didn't understand why the 24th of December was a more magical date than any other day of the year, but she decided not to look foolish and ask why. "I sort of feel bad for Rie though. Takeshi hasn't really been treating it like a vacation so far."

Not very much later, everybody else woke up and had to drag Nagisa off the floor against her will. Hikari didn't understand why everybody made a big fuss over their appearance to go to New York's famous mall. All she did was braid her hair and get dressed, while everybody else was straightening or curling or shaving or gelling. She watched the T.V.'s weather channel absently as everybody else ran around like the world was on fire.

"_Temperatures will be dropping heavily in the next couple of days followed by heavy snowfalls in New York city." _

"_That's right Tom, so the smart thing to do is wear heavy clothing and keep indoors!"_

With Hikari's basic English classes, she caught on that something cold was going to fall from the sky.

"Hikari!" Nagisa said to the girl, peeling her eyes off the T.V. "It's time to get your winter gear on, we're heading to the mall now!"

"Okay!" Hikari grabbed her case with her little creatures in it and began to apply her winter wear on. Everybody was about to leave when they realized that Sanae hadn't gotten out of bed or gotten dressed yet.

"Grandma?" Honoka looked confused. "Don't you want to come with us?"

"No thank you, dear." She said. "I think the noise and crowd would all be too much for me today, as I'm feeling a little under the weather. You go on without me."

"Um, okay." Honoka said, blinking. "Bye, Grandma! Feel better!"

"Yukishiro-san?" Takeshi gave the girl a look. "Shouldn't you be staying here with your grandmother?"

Rie glared at her husband as Sanae waved a hand in the air. "Don't worry about it! Honoka, you have fun with your friends. I just need to rest, I happens a lot when you get old."

"O-okay Grandma." Honoka looked to her feet in shame. "Sorry for not offering it in the first place…"

As they shut the door behind them, a little purple star hopped out of Nagisa's bag and trailed behind their feet. _"Gommena, Gommena, Gommena!"_

**R&R please?**


	4. Chapter 4 The Group Splits Up!

**CureWhite3616: Hurray! This chapter will be epic as those creative juices are flowing like a raging river! Right, guys?**

**Pollun: Right! Or, write, right?**

**(Oh, and sorry I forgot to include Chutaro! I will now when its necessary.) **

"Oh honey, look at that jewelry shop over there!" Rie beamed. "It looks so sophisticated!"

Takeshi smiled at his wife, the first time he had smiled during the whole trip. "We can go if you want."

"But _Daaad!_ Nagisa whined her heart out. "I wanna go to the sports' store over there! Lots of famous lacrosse players buy their equipment here!"

"No way!" Ryota failed at his attempt to push his sister out of the way. "The video game store is right there, they have the best prices!"

Honoka smiled. "I think we should all go to the science fair. I did some research on it before we left for the airport, and I found out that it had opened up just three months ago! It's the world's biggest science store, and it's also the most well-rounded in every subject!"

"We're not going to an educational store." Ryota and Nagisa said at the same time, amazed at how nerdy Honoka could be during the holidays.

Rie knew that this wouldn't end well. "O-on second thought, I think I'll go to the Ladies' room. How about I'll meet you at the food court, and we'll discuss our plans then." The woman walked away, wishing to any Christmas miracle out there that they could soon enjoy their vacation.

"Dad, why can't we go to the sports store?" Nagisa nagged. "I really need-"

"You don't _need anything!_" Takeshi yelled at his daughter louder than he had intended. They all stopped talking for a moment, even the people around them, and all they could hear was a cheery, English tune about letting the sky snow.

"The only reason I brought you all with us was because we had no choice." Takeshi's clenched fist was trembling, with bulging veins pulsing from it. "I mean, why can't you children be more like Hikari?"

At the mention of her name, the blonde looked up from her spaced-out-world and began to blush. "Eh-?"

"She's the only one here that has been shutting up for the past ten minutes!" Nagisa hadn't heard her father yell that loudly in a very long time. "You're ruining my vacation."

Now it was Nagisa's turn to yell. "It's not just your vacation, Dad! This is for you and Mom, but I don't think you've been making it great for Mom either! What kind of person are you?"

"I don't care at all what you children do right now." Takeshi said. "Just leave us alone, stay inside the mall at all times, and find us when it gets dark!" Finally, the man stormed off like an angry child.

Nagisa's amber eyes were no longer glittering with cheer, but with collected tears. "Dad…"

Chapter Four

Hikari looked up to the sky. Nagisa, Honoka, and Ryota had just dropped her off outside of the mall with Akane-san, so they could work at the café. _Something cold is going to fall from the sky it said…what do they mean? They said that something called a…temp-a-tour is going to drop soon…what's a temp-a-tour?_

"Hikari!"

"Y-yes!" Hikari turned towards Akane-san very quickly.

"Getting business here is very important, you know." The brunette fixed her bandana. "Lately you've been blushing and smiling as you stop in mid-dishwashing…" Akane-san had never had a creepier smile on her face before that moment. "Hikari…do you have a boyfriend?"

Hikari began to mumble. "…Boyfriend…?"

Akane-san laughed and pat her companion on the back. "Oh, don't worry Hikari! You'll understand when you get older! Now, let's get back to work shall we?"

Instead of obeying her "cousin"'s orders, Hikari continued to stand in the middle of the kitchen of the mobile café. "Why do you always answer questions like that?"

"Huh?" Akane-san turned around, facing Hikari, with a dish in her hand, dripping with soapy suds.

"That's how you answer every question I ask you…" Hikari looked down. "Why can't you just answer them now?"

Akane-san was shocked at how much Hikari was raising her voice. "H-Hikar-"

Now that a couple of sparks have flown, Hikari began to randomly explode in burning flames. "And why can't I be like a normal girl, instead of working for a café? I'm thirteen years old!"

Akane-san's dark eye-brows steepened. "Hikari, if it wasn't for me, you would have still been a lone girl with no home or family."

"Well…" The blonde began to scream so much that her voice didn't even sound the same. "Well, maybe I would have preferred being alone than being with you!"

Hikari tried to ignore the flash of shock and hurt in Akane-san's eyes. The wind blew past them through the van's open door, blowing back Akane-san's hair hanging down from her bandana and lightly blew Hikari's frizzy braid. That small second of silence, all the two heard was the chat of the public and the chorus of _Baby It's Cold Outside _being played through the mall. The young girl just couldn't take the silence anymore, and ran out of the van. When she looked behind her, the van began to drive away.

XXXXX

"Sis, I'm hungry!" Ryota tugged Nagisa's winter coat sleeve. "Let's go get a hamburger!"

"No!" Nagisa pulled away. "Mom and Dad are meeting up at the food court soon, and it would be really awkward if we ran into them…"

"I'm sure we can find another place in the mall for Ryota to eat!" Honoka said, trying to stay cheerful. "This place is huge…"

"Yeah…" Nagisa said, looking at the candy cane decorations on the ceiling, way up high. "How many Santa's have we seen here?"

Hikari nearly tripped on the purple star trailing behind the trio. "Hi guys!"

"Hikari-san!" Honoka smiled. "Akane-san actually gave you a break for once, didn't she?"

Hikari's grassy green eyes widened for just a moment, and then they closed after looking to her feet. "I guess so…"

"That's good." Nagisa grinned so wide it looked goofy, and gave Hikari the thumbs-up sign. "You deserve it! Now, let's go find a place for Ryota to eat so he stops whining!"

The group began to search for a place to eat while steering away from the food court, but with Nagisa tagging along it didn't take long for her to get distracted. They had to pull her away from the sports stores, the toy stores, and soon she was glued to the electronics store.

Hikari was beside Nagisa, who was pressed against the window. The thirteen year old was amazed at how many T.V.'s were displayed, and how they were all showing the same thing. _How is that weather man inside all of those T.V.'s at the same time? It doesn't make sense…_

Hikari listened to all of them ramble in the English language that she barely knew. _"Get ready for a cold day Grace, because temperatures will be dropping even more over the next couple of days!" "That's right, and a lot of snow storms heading our way! This will surely be a white Christmas!" "Airports will be shutting down, delaying flights. This is not good at all for people on vacation for the holidays…"_

The blonde's eyes widened. _There's more than one…temp-a-tour…?_

"Alright Hikari, come on!" Nagisa said, pulling her by the arm. "Ryota's getting fussy!"

"I'm not a baby!"

"Well, you sure act like one!"

XXXXX

Takeshi smiled. "Darling, you're back!"

Rie smiled. They were standing in front of the fast food restaurant. "Well, I'm glad to see how happy you are!" She looked around, her smile fading slightly. "So, where are the kids?"

"Oh!" Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck, he hadn't really prepared for telling his wife about it. He knew Rie would be angry and worried if the children were running around in a foreign mall by themselves, and this was finally a time where they could be alone and happy. "They…they got tired of walking around, so they went back to the hotel with Sanae."

"Oh, okay." Rie smiled with relief, her lip gloss shimmering. "Figures. I _did _warn them about the size of this mall…"

Takeshi put his arm around her, trying to change the subject. "So, where's this sophisticated jewelry store you were telling me about?" Rie giggled as they began to exit the food court.

XXXXX

"Look! Look! Look!" Nagisa drooled by the window of a coffee maker store. She ignored the fact that Ryota would rather drink horse urine than coffee. "That looks amazing!" She turned to Hikari. "This would never beat Akane-san's coffee, though! Why don't we go to the tako café?"

The image of the van driving away down the icy streets of New York flashes through Hikari's mind. "Um, your father told us to stay inside, remember?"

Nagisa pressed her hands against her back, bending forward and cracking her muscles. She looked incredibly annoyed. "Darn, you're right…"

The teenaged girls debated over what they were going to do as Ryota began to walk away with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "I knew that Nagisa would make it impossible to find food…"

As Ryota was walking away, the purple star zipped between people's ankles and jumped into Ryota's back pocket. "_GOMMENA! GOMMENA! GOMMENA!"_

**Sorry! I was going to update yesterday, but I took an unexpected trip to the states!**


	5. Chapter 5 No Answer

**Just asking…did anybody watch Big Brother tonight? (or I guess last night, or Sunday night, whenever this is posted.) Also, for people reading this like WhatevertheWaffle, in Futari Wa purple stars that shouted "GOMMENA" came after a Zackenna was destroyed by Pretty Cure. **

**Here's your story! ~~**

Ryota felt his stomach vibrate and roll around, several times a minute. "Mom and Dad have to be out of the food court by now, I guess I'll work my way back to it and buy myself a hamburger…yum!"

"GOMMENA! GOMMENA! GOMMENA!" The black star was flopping around in Ryota's back pocket. Black dust was falling off of it, falling into the young boy's shoes, shirt, you name it.

"Would you like _this _necklace, dear?" Takeshi asked his wife in the "sophisticated" jewelry store that was so glittery with chandeliers and high-end jewels that it hurt to look at it from a distance.

Rie was loving Takeshi's sudden optimism and generosity, but something just didn't sit right with her. "Oh it's lovely, but you don't have to spend that much money on me, dear!" _Is this the man I married? _The woman's gaze fell outside of the store. "T-Takeshi, is that-?"

Takeshi's pupils dilated as he saw what he could have sworn was his son, walking in the busiest part of the mall, _alone. _"Um, no that's not Ryota honey, I swear. He's back at the hotel, remember?"

"Right." Rie tried to look her husband in the eye, however it took all of her strength not to look outside the store once again.

"Let's see how this looks on you." Takeshi grabbed the glittery white necklace and hooked it around her neck, with emerald shining as it rested on her chest. "What do you think, honey? It really suits you."

"Yeah, it's nice." Rie didn't resist to look outside the store one more time, sighing with relief as she realized that that boy just had the same shirt as Ryota and the boy had black hair, hanging in his eyes. She looked up to her husband, this time with a genuine smile. "I really like it."

Chapter Five

"You REALLY did it this time Nagisa! You're such an idiot – mepo!" Mepple was shouting from his pocket case.

"Oh, shut up!" Nagisa snapped at him as the trio ran around the mall. The sandy blonde didn't care who heard-they were in a country where they probably didn't understand their language. "You didn't do anything to stop it!"

"Guys!" Honoka shouted to them both. "Arguing will do nothing but distract us from finding Ryota!"

Nagisa, who was leading the group, randomly stopped and rustled her hair, looking at the ceiling that seemed high enough to be infinite. "Airenaii! This mall is so huge, what chance would we have of finding him?"

"Maybe the temp-a-tours got him…" Hikari mumbled to herself, looking in no particular direction.

Mipple, Mepple, Nagisa, and Honoka all stopped their conversation and turned towards Hikari. "Huh?" They all questioned her in unison.

Hikari's gaze met her friends'. "Didn't you guys watch T.V. this morning?"

There was a second of silence, everyone confused, then Honoka shook her head. "Whatever. I think we should just go outside and find a payphone, so we can call my grandmother about this."

"Sure, I guess it's our only option." _Dad's gonna kill me…_

The trio walked outside in the bitter cold, getting a warm aroma of deep fried foods and warmed treats to tickle your heart and warm your hands, all at once. Seeing the hot dogs, the hot chocolate, the city's giant Christmas tree, these things made Nagisa think back to the day when this all started. December fourteenth, the day that began so happily. She found it hard to believe that she could count on one hand the number of days ago that she never knew this would happen. But, here they were.

"I'm hungry – lulu!" This high pitched whine suddenly bursting from Hikari's pocket startled them all. "I'm hungry – lulu!"

"Okay, Lulun." Hikari tried to smile through her exhaustion. "I'll feed you and Pollun right now, just give me a second to-"

"I WANT THOSE HOT DOGS THEY HAVE OVER THERE – LULU!" A cloud of pink dust suddenly trails Lulun turning into her Field Of Light form and running in the snow.

"LULUN!" They all shouted.

"I need to get her back – popo!" Pollun leaped out of Hikari's pocket with a trail of blue dust behind him. He dashed into the dark back alley behind Lulun. "I need to get her back – popo!"

"POLLUN!" The trio sprinted to the back alley to get their little friends back, but suddenly a plump woman in an apron blocked them.

The overweight woman spoke something in English that none of them could grasp, but followed up by pointing to a sign that said NO ENTER, which Honoka could understand. Finally, the woman held out a plate covered in treats and said another sentence.

"Now, I understand THAT!" Nagisa said to her friends, grabbing one. "Ya-ta!"

The woman took away the treat from the hungry teen. She yelled at her angrily, and walked away from them, blocking the back alley.

"Nagisa…" Honoka said under her breath with an annoyed tone. "Why did you just take one?"

As they were walking down the street, Nagisa's face fell, sighing a white cloud into the frosty air. "I thought they were free samples!"

Hikari, who was leading the way, stopped walking and turned around. "We've got more things to worry about!" She smacked her fist into her other hand. "Now we've lost three people that we love! What are we gonna do?"

"My Dad would kill me if he found out we went outside of the mall!" Nagisa yelled. "We need to keep looking for Ryota and go back!"

"But, Pollun and Lulun-" Tears welled up in Hikari's eyes.

"You need to hurry up and make a plan – mipo." Mipple said, shaking from Honoka's pouch. "I can feel Pollun and Lulun's presence getting more and more distant – mipo!"

"That's it!" Honoka exclaimed, snapping her fingers." Mipple and Mepple can feel their presence, right?"

"Yeah, just like our first day of being Pretty Cure." Nagisa smiled as she looked into the white and gray clouds. "Mepple lead me to Honoka."

Honoka didn't even acknowledge Nagisa's trip down memory lane. She was all business. "So that means we should look for them right now, before their presence gets too weak for Mipple and Mepple to feel. With their help, we can find them in no time, and in the meantime we can find a payphone and call my grandmother."

XXXXX

"I'm sorry that I couldn't afford that necklace for you, dear." Takeshi said, as the couple walked through the mall of New York City.

"It's okay." Rie tried pulling off a smile. She wasn't angry that he didn't buy it, she was angry that Takeshi lied-she saw the price and knew very well that he could afford it, especially since the stones weren't even real.

Rie actually had her eye on a REAL pearl necklace. She liked the idea and the looks of it, because her birthstone was in fact a pearl. She sighed. Maybe if she saved her pennies…

Their thoughts were interrupted when the married couple walked by the electronics store. The first thing Rie noticed was the glass had finger prints and a nose print on it. She stopped and shook her head. "Those little kids…"

"Yeah…" Takeshi said.

"_Due to an extreme blizzard in our forecast, flights will be canceled and delayed for a matter of weeks in the state of New York."_

The couple may not have understood English, but they could tell what the weatherman was saying with the pictures of airplanes and huge line ups at the airport they were just at.

"Takeshi!" Rie's hand flew to her jawline in shock. "WEEKS? We need to go back to the hotel and tell the children…"

"Right." Two seconds later, Takeshi just realized that the children actually weren't at the hotel. "U-um, are you sure you want to, Rie, darling?"

"Yes!" Rie grabbed her husband's wrist and pulled him through the mall. "Of course I do! Let's go!"

XXXXX

"To the left – mepo!" Mepple pulled on his case so hard, it pulled Nagisa across the ice. "No, to the right – mepo!"

"Ugh, can't you make up your mind already?" Nagisa snapped at the creature from the Field of Light. The snow was starting to get thick with the wind, so the trio had a lot of trouble seeing both from the snow and the wind making them pierce their eyes. It wasn't very helpful to them at all that Mepple kept pulling them in different directions.

Hikari looked up to the sky thoughtfully. "They DO run around awfully fast…" She mumbled.

Honoka shielded her eyes with her wrist. "I don't know how they would in this weather…judging by the high altitudes of the wind and snow, I'd say that this is turning into a blizzard."

Mepple continued to pull Nagisa around the city, with her other teen friends tagging behind her. With the color of the sky and the snow thickening even more, all they could see was white and the colors of their bright coats. When Mipple began to pull Honoka around as well, they ended up pulling Honoka and Nagisa to smack together, then slide to the ground in the feelings of hopelessness. Hikari sat down beside them.

When Hikari felt behind her, she realized that she was leaning up against a wall of some sort. She let her hands feel the cold, bumpy wall. It was a brick wall of some sort, but painted silver and covered in a layer of frost. She turned back around, scrunching up her fists in the oversized sleeves of her coat. She was so cold.

They had been silent for a while. All they could hear was the whistles of the strong winds that sliced at their bare cheeks like knives. If you squinted through the snow enough, you could see that the sun was beginning to set. Hikari looked around her settings, until the sight of something set a spark of hope bouncing around inside her.

"Guys!" Hikari exclaimed to her dear friends, breaking the heavy silence. "Over there! I see a telephone booth!"

"Great job Hikari!" The older teens said together, running with her towards it. They were thankful to be inside, since it was so warm.

"Well, I don't have any cash…" Honoka said, digging deep through her empty pockets. "But I know Nagisa brought a lot of her Birthday money she's saved from October, right?"

"Yup!" Nagisa said with a smile. She stuck her hand in her coat pocket. "Now, how much Yen does it need for a phone call?"

There was a moment of silence. "Yen?" Honoka said. "Don't you have American cash?"

"I'm Japanese…" Nagisa said. "What would I be doing with American cash?"

Honoka's cold hands curled to trembling fists. "You…didn't convert your cash…at the airport?"

"No…"

Honoka grabbed Nagisa by the shoulders and exploded like none of them had seen her explode before. "How could you be so…so _stupid?"_

"Hey, there's no need to get mean!"

Before you knew it, the former Pretty Cure duo broke out in an argument as if Hikari wasn't even there. As they were fighting, Hikari walked out of the phone booth and squatted on the icy ground. She scanned everywhere around her feet, picked up a quarter, and showed it to them. "Guys!" She said, interrupting their fight. "I have the money!"

"Way to go Hikari!" Nagisa said. "What would we do without you?"

Hikari grinned, but she was happier about breaking up the fight than actually getting the phone call.

Honoka put the snow caked coin in the slot, punched in the number for the hotel they were staying at, and grabbed the spiral-shaped cord as she heard it ring.

"_Holiday Inn, how may I help you?"_

She spoke her best English. "Room 205, please."

She heard it ringing again. For a very long time. Honoka twisted the phone cord around her fingers tighter as she counted the rings. _18. 19. 20…_

Suddenly, the phone went back to the main desk. _"We're sorry, but the person in that hotel room doesn't seem to be answering."_

Honoka twisted the cord even tighter around her fingers. The circulation being cut was uncomfortable. "Um, this is kind of emergency. Knock on our door. Please!"

"Certainly." The anxious girl was put on hold for about fifteen minutes. _"I'm sorry ma'am, she's in the room but doesn't seem to be answering our knocks."_

Honoka dropped the phone and looked into space. _Grandma!_

"_Ma'am? Are you okay ma'am?"_

_I should have stayed and taken care of you._


End file.
